ABOUT US The International Society for Black Musicians (ISBM) is an organization for Black musicians. ISBM is dedicated to the advocacy of Black musicians and their work in the scholarship of music. The contributions of Black musicians are often ignored, appropriated, and deemed to be of less value than that of their non-Black counterparts. ISBM hopes to restructure the narrative by centering Blackness; using the music of Black musicians as a new point of departure. We strive to be the connective tissue between musical artists throughout the diaspora in their multifaceted forms.

OUR MISSION is to cultivate an international community of Black musicians through education, performance, collaboration, and the advancement of their work. We seek to host a convening in 2021 (in-person/online/hybrid) and provide resources throughout the year to help educate and empower Black musical artists.

OUR VISION is to shift the focus on whiteness in classical music, centering the historically ignored contributions of Black musical artists while simultaneously creating an ecosystem of present-day Black musicians across the diaspora. There are many talented, capable Black musicians in the world, and we seek to empower them and give them the tools to do the work they want to do.

OUR GOALS:  

OUR FUNDING NEEDS ISBM is seeking $15,000 to fund our 2021 Convening and related costs.
As of November 2020, we plan to host a two-day online convening that will cover topics that affect Black musicians living through our current time-- the struggles of institutional racism in colleges and conservatories, how to secure funding for projects, and navigating an industry that was not designed to accommodate Black musicians. The majority of the funds will go towards paying speakers and artists, with the rest going towards administrative costs and web hosting fees. ISBM is at this point an all-volunteer effort of dedicated individuals, but we must model what we want to see in the world, and we want to pay people their worth.

OUR FOUNDERS
Dalanie Harris is a double bassist and podcaster from Los Angeles, CA. She began her musical studies with piano at age 7, and later switched to double bass at age 12. She has played in orchestras all over Los Angeles, including the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. Her accolades include winning first prize in the 2014 NAACP Act-So Regional Competition, and second place in the 2015 NANM Young Artists Competition. After graduating from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Harris went on to study with double bass virtuoso James VanDemark at the Eastman School of Music. In November 2018, along with friend and fellow Eastman student Katie Brown, Harris co-founded Classically Black Podcast, which brings listeners into the world of classical music through the eyes of the cohosts: two Black classical musicians on the rise looking to share their perspective with a new and interesting twist. As a duo, Harris and Brown have hosted and presented at conferences promoting equity and inclusion for Black musicians across the country.

Kathryn Brown is a violist hailing from Evanston, IL. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she studied Viola Performance and Music Education. She studied viola with George Taylor. Kathryn received her degree in Music Education from Illinois State University where she studied viola with Dr. Katherine Lewis. Kathryn has performed, given lectures, and lecture recitals in cities around the world including Wellington, Poznań, Seoul, Nashville, and Salt Lake City. An advocate for access to quality music education for aspiring musicians of all backgrounds, Kathryn teaches in the El Sistema inspired programs RocMusic and Bravo Buddies. Aside from playing and teaching, Kathryn is co-host of Classically Black Podcast, a classical music podcast that discusses classical music from the Black perspective. Katie is currently a fellow with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.